By Khali Henderson

Posted: 11/2000

Nexbell Launches Flat-Rate Local Access
Origination Service
By Khali Henderson

Nexbell Communications (www.nexbell.com)
which has been acquired by Counsel Communications LLC, a subsidiary of Counsel
Corp. (www.counselcorp.com)
introduced in late August a flat-rate, Internet-based local access origination
service, which enables enhanced telephony service providers to establish a local
presence in major metro markets without installing a local switch or server.

The service, Multi-Exchange Transport Service (METS), is available in 32
metro markets. Nexbell has 20 customers up and running with the service, and 13
in trial or provisioning, says Barry Greenspan, vice president of new business
development for Nexbell.

METS is designed to speed time to market for companies offering prepaid
calling cards, unified messaging, fax services, one-number toll-free solutions
and similar products. With METS, such companies will be able to provide local
voice services in cities throughout the United States and to receive calls from
those cities into their local data centers.

"Our METS service gives service providers a virtual presence in local
markets without building a network, installing local switches or servers, or
even buying PRIs [primary rate interfaces] from RBOCs or CLECs," said
Matthew Beal, vice president of technology and research, in a statement.
"By offering national network coverage for call origination services with
regional or national local access, we are opening up a whole new avenue of
business opportunity, as well as a powerful means of reducing capital and
overhead expenses."

According to Nexbell, the ability to offer customers local access numbers
minimizes costs and maximizes the provider’s marketing muscle. Additionally, the
flat-rate monthly pricing structure ensures predictable monthly costs regardless
of utilization and geographic call distribution.

Pricing is volume and term sensitive, and it allows providers to reduce their
monthly access charges by up to 70 percent says Nexbell.

For example, a 250,000-minute per month commitment can translate to access
charges of less than 1 cent per minute, says Greenspan.

Nexbell assigns service providers local direct inward dialing (DID) numbers
to offer to their end users who originate calls as they have in the past. Once
received into a Nexbell PoP, locally assigned DID numbers are routed over the
Nexbell IP network to the service provider’s interconnect point. Service
providers connect to the Nexbell network via a DS-1, DS-3 or OC-3 circuit.

The Nexbell network currently is active in Atlanta; Arlington, Va.; Austin,
Texas; Buffalo, N.Y.; Boston; Cleveland; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit;
Houston; Kansas City; Los Angeles; Louisville, Ky.; Memphis, Tenn.; Miami;
Minneapolis; Nashville, Tenn.; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland,
Oregon; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; St. Louis; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; San Diego;
San Francisco; Seattle; Tampa, Fla.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Vancouver, British
Columbia.

Plans call for the number of operational hubs to double by the end of 2000,
and 130 cities are expected to be online by 2002.